Young Writer/Physicist Reads From His Novel "The Solitude of Prime Numbers" in L.A. Thursday (4/14)

Paolo Giordano reads from his first novel, winner of the 2008 Premio Strega, the biggest literary prize in Italy.

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It takes a person who is both a scientist and a novelist to consider a pair of prime numbers, say 5 and 7, and see exquisite loneliness and pain, see the primary metaphor for a novel. Paolo Giordano is one such multi-faceted individual. His background in math and science plainly informed his first novel, The Solitude of Prime Numbers, a smash in Italy, Giordano's birthplace.

Born in 1982, Giordano is the youngest winner of the the Premio Strega, the most prestigious of Italy's literary awards. His novel has been translated into 30 languages and was recently made into a film. The novel concerns two socially maladjusted friends, Mattias and Alice, who, though they have much in common and care about each other, cannot come together (like 5 and 7). Remember guys like Ray Carver who drank and wrote, and wrote about drinking? Giordano studies physics and writes, and writes about math. Not a perfect comparison, but you get the point. Maybe this is the next-level evolutionary step the novel needs to take to stay relevant?

Giordano reads from the American edition of his novel tomorrow in Los Angeles.

[via Flavor Pill]

Paolo Giordano
Thursday, April 14
6:30 p.m.
Istituto Italiano di Cultura
123 Hilgard Ave, Los Angeles
Free

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